Category: Wind Energy
Wind Energy and Compressed Air Energy Storage
| August 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Strategic Marketing Decisions for Windfuels
| May 25, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
It always feels good to get back in the saddle, so to speak, plying one’s original trade. I spent a few hours yesterday with 2GreenEnergy client Dr. David Doty, CEO of Windfuels, and 2GE Associate Terry Ribb, talking about naming, positioning, creating a new market category – all those wonderful things. Memories from decades of meetings with clients all over the planet came rushing back to me as we walked leisurely through the PowerPoint and made the strategic business decisions that will open the doors to growth and guide Windfuels effectively into the future.
I love the rich diversity and high purpose of the 2GreenEnergy experience – but it’s always nice to go back to the “good old days.”
Lots of Diversity at the American Wind Energy Association Show
| May 25, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I spent a few happy hours walking around the wind power show here in Anaheim yesterday, put on by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Whenever I go to the major wind and solar trade shows, I’m struck with a number of observations:
Scope: I find myself in a convention center where thousands of exhibitors sprawl over half a million square feet, but I realize that this very show, if it were held 10 years ago, could have fit neatly in my living room.
Geographic Diversity: Though everyone speaks some level of English, it’s certainly not the first language for a great number of exhibitors. Those without a working command of German and Mandarin are unable to take part in some of the richest conversations.
Business Diversity: Many hundreds of different business disciplines are represented – some with only tangential relevance to the subject at hand. Sure, there are tons of people with variations of the wind turbine theme: different sizes and materials, some with gears, some (more all the time) with direct drive, and unique approaches to efficiency, noise reduction, safety, reliability, etc. But in addition to the folks with the actual turbines, I met people whose products and services are not at all unique to the wind power industry: folks who protect people from falling off things, forge large (100-pound) bolts, lift stuff with winches, do the windings in generators, sell wrenches the size of golf clubs, and provide tape to repair the leading edge of the blades as they become damaged from sand, hail, and even rain over the years of constant operation.
Quite an interesting day.
Report from UK’s Committee on Climate Change
| May 9, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I try to follow some of the international news scene on renewables, as well as what’s happening (or not happening) here, domestically. The common thread to most of this is that a great deal of the rest of the world has long since stopped bickering about climate change, and is actively embracing substantive actions to deal with its realities.
Earlier today, the UK’s Committee on Climate Change reported that renewable energy should “make a major contribution to decarbonising the UK economy over the next decades. (They) conclude that a renewable energy share of around 30% by 2030 would be appropriate, with scope for a higher share (e.g. up to 45%) depending on the extent to which renewable technology costs fall and possible constraints on deployment of low-carbon alternatives.”
Rather than moaning and calling one another names, the UK seems excited about the 50,000 new jobs that will be created as they build out a huge commitment to offshore wind. They seem strangely united behind a cause. Go figure.
Wind Farms with Compressed Air Energy Storage
| March 3, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I’ve added a hot new business plan to the list I’m now featuring. I spoke yesterday with Joe Speace, CEO of “Project Renewable Energy” near Kansas City, whose doing a capital raise for a wind farm that will feature compressed air energy storage (CAES). This looks quite strong.
Storage will be a big deal soon, as the penetration of renewables increases and the intermittence of solar and wind starts to become an issue. I’m hearing about it connected with an increasing number of deals in this space.
And CAES is far more efficient than it sounds. When I first heard about it, I asked, “You’re going to take mechanical energy (a spinning wind turbine), turn it into electrical energy, power a compressor, then, on demand, somehow release the compressed air to turn a turbine and generate electrical energy — again? Doesn’t that sound like a disaster in terms of efficiency?” It turns out that it’s close to 90%!
And what about the huge underground caverns that store the compressed air? Some are man-made, some naturally formed, e.g., those that formerly held natural gas. Don’t they leak at high pressure? Yes, but there is a technology for plugging leaks.
Impressive stuff. And again, that stuff will become increasingly important as time goes by.
[The Vector] Wind Energy — Tilting at the Leaders in Windmills
| February 26, 2011 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
General Electric has shown its intent to become the leading player in offshore wind power. At the start of July GE signed an agreement with two Scandinavian energy companies to install and test four floating 4MW wind turbines off the coast of Norway. The rotors on the turbines will be 110 meters in diameter, and each turbine will be capable of generating power for 1,000 homes.
In all, GE has plans to invest approximately €340 million ($425 million) in offshore wind turbine manufacturing and service facilities in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK. More than $90 million of that funding is being invested in Norway on an Offshore Technology Development Center in Oslo and production of its turbine demonstration units. Read More
[The Vector] Financing for World’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm
| February 10, 2011 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
Financing arrangements for the first phase of the world’s largest offshore wind farm are in the books. The London Array wind farm will cover 90 square miles, seven miles offshore in the outer Thames Estuary. It is eventually expected to have a capacity of 1,000 MW. Read More
Hot Webinar on Power Transmission
| January 28, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
I try to stay up on the more exciting goings on in power transmission because of its obvious relationship to the penetration of clean energy generally. Less than 2% of our current grid-mix in the US is renewables at this point, and so such issues like smart-grid, high-voltage DC, unification of the three major US grids (600 gigawatts in the east, 240 gigawatts in the west, and 70 gigawatts in Texas) – as well as related areas like energy storage – are all but moot at this point. But, if we’re serious about installing more wind and PV – not to mention geothermal, run-of-river hydro, solar thermal, etc., this whole subject will soon become critically important. Read More
Take a COOL Guess – the Fun Quiz on Clean Energy (and Global Warming Remedy). Today’s Topic: Wind Turbines
| January 20, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Wind Energy |
Question: Approximately what percentage of the energy of the wind, flowing past the familiar three-blade turbines, is extracted and moved into the turbine shaft?
Answer: Can be found at http://2greenenergy.com/cool-guess-answers/8732.
Relevance: We come across numerous attempts to improve this figure. And, as the answer shows, there IS room for improvement – though not as much as the casual observer may think. Having said that, one of the top investment opportunities I recommend here is headed by a colleague who, I believe, really has made an important breakthrough.
[The Vector] Super Offshore Turbines in Development – Despite Difficulties
| December 29, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Wind Energy |
A consortium of companies in Spain are planning to build a 15 MW turbine. The turbine manufacturer Gamesa will lead the €25 million ‘Azimut’ project to build the 15 MW giant together with 11 other wind and engineering companies and 22 research centres, according to a report in Business Green. The Azimut project is expected to run for four years.
Meanwhile, the effort to build the Britannia 10MW offshore turbine seems to have been rescued from the brink of trouble.
